[Foxx]

We were one of 70 pairs in Flight C of the first day of the North American Pairs in Louisville, KY. Here are 8 of the hands that we played. Get the majority of these right, and you would advance to the round of 28. Part II will be posted next door in the Advanced Forum. Scoring is matchpoints for all hands. Deal rotation is done to make South declarer or place the problem hand there.

(1) Dealer North, Both Vul

♠J10852
♥102
♦1093
♣J107

   W      N      E      S

         1NT    2H*     ?

* natural

(2) Dealer North, None Vul

♠ ---
♥93
♦1098762
♣K10642

   W      N      E      S

         1S      P      ?

(3) Dealer East, Both Vul

♠7
♥AQJ52
♦J8642
♣93

   W      N      E      S

                 P      P
  1C     1S      P      ?

(4) Dealer South, N/S Vul

♠A8
♥AKJ972
♦A10432
♣ ---

   W      N      E      S

                       1H
   P     1S     2C     2D
  3C     3D      P     3H
  4C     4H     5C     5H
   P      P      P

West leads ♣10; dummy comes down with ♠J532 ♥105 ♦QJ87 ♣AQ5. You win the ♣A, discarding the ♠8. Now what do you call for?

(5) Dealer West, Both Vul

You are EAST:

♠964
♥J75
♦A73
♣A963

   W      N      E      S

                       1S
   P     2D      P     2H
   P     4S      P      P
   P

2♦ was non-game-forcing. Partner leads the ♣2 and dummy hits with ♠AQ ♥83 ♦KQJ864 ♣754. You win the ♣A as declarer drops the ♣J, and your club return is won by declarer's ♣K as partner plays ♣8. What should you be thinking for the defense, when declarer leads the ♦5 toward dummy?

(6) Dealer East, E/W Vul

♠K942
♥AJ83
♦85
♣1064

   W      N      E      S

                 P      P
   P     1D      P     1H
   P     2C      P      ?

(7) Dealer North, N/S Vul

You are WEST:

♠ ---
♥A8532
♦8742
♣A742

   W      N      E      S

         3S      P     3NT
   P      P      P

You lead the.... well? What do you lead?

(8) Dealer North, None Vul

♠AK3
♥87
♦KJ108
♣Q752

   W      N      E      S

         1D      P      ?

NOTE: 2♣ would be non-game-forcing; 2♦ is NOT inverted.

[nigel_k]

1. Pass
2. 1NT
3. 2♥
4. ♦Q
5. I am thinking I should have switched to a trump instead of continuing clubs. Luckily I have been given a second chance if partner has an odd number.
6. 2♦. But I would pass if partner might be 4-5.
7. ♥A
8. I don't like inverted either. But unless you have another way to raise, 2♣ seems the only choice. Am I supposed to bid 1♠?

[wyman]

1. 2♠ to play (that's what would have happened if RHO passed, so I'm not unhappy). We play Lebensohl in case I have a good hand.
2. Pass
3. 2♥
4. ♦Q
5. If pard plays the 2 (standard count), I'll win and play a trump. If he plays the 10 or 9, I'll duck and win the next one (and play a trump).
6. 2♦. Not good enough for 2N, but I want to give P a chance to make a try if he's got one. What do we do with (13)45hands? I'm worried we'll be playing a 4-2 instead of a 5-3 if we routinely open this 1D. Hopefully with hands that would pass 2D in this auction, P will have = or longer D.
7. Blech. It's probably right to cash an ace and peek at dummy and see partner's signal. This doesn't sound like a crazy auction, though, so at MP, I'll just lead the ♥3 and stay with the field I think.
8. 2♣ for sure; I need to have a way to show a game forcing diamond raise that doesn't involve punting 3N.

[mike777]

1) pass
2) pass
3) pass
6) 2D
7) 2 of H
8) 2s(good invite in d)

[quiddity]

These are hard!

1) Pass. I hate doing this with heart shortness and 5 spades but we're vul and this is a terrible hand. I think it's likely that either we're going for 200 or they can make 3H anyway.

2) 1N (forcing). Not vul I'll take a shot at improving the contract. Maybe the opps will miss a game.

3) 2H. My gut instinct is to pass here with no expectation of a fit, but I know from experience that it doesn't work out so well. I'll let suit quality be the deciding factor. Maybe the field will bid.. maybe partner won't hang me because I'm a passed hand.

4) HT. I think East is more likely to have the DK but leading the DQ will only help if diamonds are 2-2 or hearts are 3-2. EW have bid a lot with few cards so I expect shape - quite likely hearts are 4-1 and diamonds 3-1. We already have a lot of equity in this contract; we have almost certainly made the right decision over 5C, we're in the right strain and escaped a spade lead. I'm not going to risk a zero now if West has Kxx of diamonds; I'll draw trumps and if I'm wrong maybe I'll still get some matchpoints for 11 tricks.

5) Don't know.. I'm expecting to see the D2 from partner in which case I'll win the ace and shift to a trump. If partner plays a higher diamond I'll hold up.

6) 2D. Just good enough for me to give (false) preference but it feels close.

7) Feels close between D7 and H2. I'll guess D7 this time.

8) 2C.

[mtvesuvius]

1. Pass.
It's Equal red (the worst VUL possible), and this hand has no shape, and no redeeming value. Unless partner can reopen, I don't want to declare anything... Even if he can, I'm not happy about it.
2. Pass.
This rates to be a big misfit, and if it isn't, the opponents will probably reopen with 2♥ or something. I don't like 1N at all here.
3. 2♥.
Perfect by a passed hand, it's NF constructive, and shows this hand or something similar.
4. ♦Q
Our bidding on this hand was "mildly conservative". I would have been forcing to game, and possibly even slam with this... Not making multiple non-forcing calls. The ♥Q falling is more likely than the ♦K, also RHO is more likely to be short in hearts, and therefore not have the ♥Q. I'd hook the diamond, and if it wins, I'll repeat the hook, playing the ♥AK. If it loses, I play for the drop once more.
5. What was partner's diamond spot? What are your spot-card leads? Regardless, I'd win the diamond and play back another club. Hopefully declarer will have transportation issues, and won't be able to manage everything now. Just a guess really.
6. 2♦.
Considering partner's wide range here and our general values, I think the false preference is needed in case partner can keep the bidding open.
7. ♥3, or whatever my systemic heart spot is. There isn't a rule against partner having entries in spades too.
8. There has to be a way to show this hand. Not playing INV minors, and not playing 2♣ as a GF makes this annoying, but I'd bid 2♣, then wait and see what happens. Maybe partner will describe their hand and we'll be able to place the contract well. Maybe not, and we'll be making a shot in the dark. Oh well, it's justice served imo.

[rogerclee]

1) Pass obv, the opps have given you a way to not go minus 200 on this hand, just take it.
2) Pass, our chances of improving the contract are not so good with this shape
3) 2H, this is just normal. We are playing MP, we can't just be playing 1S in our 5-1 fit when we have a 5-2 or better heart fit, thanks for allowing us to be a passed hand to make this even clearer.
4) Queen of diamonds, just gonna take the expected trick-maximizing line. Would have bid 3D btw.
5) I'm thinking, why did I play back a club instead of a trump.
6) 2D, normal, partner can still have a good hand.
7) I lead fourth from my longest and strongest.
8) 2C seems fine to me, not sure why I would bid anything else. Let's find out some information about partner's hand.

[Foxx]

(1) Partner faced this problem, and chose to double. I interpreted it as value-showing, and took out to 3♣ with ♠Q93 ♥A643 ♦52 ♣AKQ8. LHO, the 2♥ bidder, led the ♥K from ♠64 ♥KQJ975 ♦AQ6 ♣32. I won the ♥A and declared the hand well to get out for down two. Later I learned that partner intended the double as a "stolen bid" transfer to spades. Shades of pogo.com..........

I would have interpreted 2♠ as nonforcing, so had partner bid that he would have played there. 2♠ shouldn't make either but it is a much better place. At least I didn't leave the "value-showing" double in ---- LHO would have brought in ten tricks, handing us minus 1070. Yeah! Those are the kinds of numbers I used to log when I was a student in the Bay Area.

(2) My LHO faced this problem, and chose to respond 1NT. RHO rebid 2♥ with ♠KJ764 ♥KQ854 ♦QJ ♣7 and played there. Holding ♠AQ103 ♥1072 ♦43 ♣Q953, I had a low heart on the table after about one second. They would finish down three; +150 to us.

Was that a good score? Perhaps. 3NT is cold our way, and had LHO passed 1♠, partner would have reopened with a double, and we would have a fair chance to reach it. So I suppose that 1NT was the right call in practice. I never did look at the matchpoint scores for any of these hands.

(3) Partner faced this problem, choosing to advance with 2♥. He played it there, caught a dummy of ♠Q9853 ♥7 ♦KQ10 ♣KQ86, and went down two. Yes, my spade suit is subpar for the overcall, but in this field it felt like a good time to attack. Passing 1♠ is no good either, but we make 3♦ or 1NT. I don't pretend to know how to sensibly reach either of these spots.

(4) The best line, as it turns out, was to pass 5♣ around for partner to double, which would have gotten 800 for us. But here, I was concerned most with going plus. Hooking in diamonds risked losing the ♦K, a diamond ruff, AND the ♥Q. Therefore, I ran the ♥10 and, when RHO turned up with ♥Qxx and LHO with ♦Kx, was rewarded with an overtrick. Had I finessed in diamonds, I would have made 5♥ only.

(5) What DOES partner play on the first diamond? That is the whole point of the problem, and it is presented here to show the importance of count signals. My RHO faced this situation, and when she saw the ♦2 from across the table, she won the ♦A and returned a third club. Holding ♠KJ1085 ♥AQ94 ♦95 ♣KJ, I ruffed with the ♠8, and soon had an overtrick. Had RHO ducked her ♦A, I would have failed. LHO held ♦102 and, of course, should have contributed the ♦10 to signal count and indicate the ducking play. On the other hand, our opponents were a pair of bright young girls from Atlanta. They have nowhere to go but up.

(6) RHO confronted this problem, which is given to make another point. After a long think, he returned to 2♦, probably the right call in theory. However, he hit his partner with ♠A75 ♥K9 ♦Q1097 ♣KJ73, and she played it there, ending up down two, when 2♣ was coming in. LHO, of course, blew it by not rebidding 1NT. This would be a lock for at least seven tricks, probably making an eighth.

(7) Hats off to the ace leaders on this one. I put the ♥3 on the table, dummy hitting with ♠AKJ10962 ♥97 ♦KQ3 ♣10. RHO snapped up the trick with ♠Q7 ♥KQJ4 ♦AJ106 ♣963, then proceeded to run off seven spades and four diamonds, when the lead of a club or the ♥A would bring in a two-trick set. At the time, I was infuriated by the ghastly fix inflicted on us by LHO's egregious misbid of 3♠, putting me on lead against 3NT when the field would obviously be in 4♠. A winning lead, of course, would have turned the tables and rerouted the fix in the other direction.

(8) At the table, I rolled out 3NT, probably ill-advised, but I was driving to game and this seemed the most likely. LHO led the ♥K, as partner put down ♠754 ♥Q3 ♦A964 ♣AK93 in dummy. LHO's next lead was the ♥A, followed by the ♥J, the ♥10, the ♥9, and the ♥2. Ouch. As it turns out, however, not even four of either minor was making, with diamonds 4-1 and clubs 5-0. 3♦ was the limit. My bidding philosophy doesn't allow for stopping short of game when I have 13+ HCP and partner opens a one-bid. Hmmmz.

In spite of the above incidents, we had the 8th highest percent out of 70 on the first day, easily enough to qualify for the final. Hands from the following day will be posted in the Advanced Forum shortly.